The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, along with nine other NIH Institutes sponsors a national program
to train the next generation of neuroscientists. The sponsoring institutes include NIA, NICHD, NIDCD, NIDCR, NIDA, NEI, NIGMS,
NIMH, and NINR. The aim of the program is to encourage and support broad, early-stage (pre-thesis) training in the neurosciences
by offering institutions a single comprehensive training grant. It is expected that these training programs will contribute
to basic and disease-related neuroscience research that is relevant to the participating NIH institutes. As part of the program,
all trainees were invited to visit NIH for a two-day special orientation and training session sponsored by the participating
NIH institutes. The meeting took place on July 12-13, 2001, at the Natcher conference center. Approximately 120 (out of a
total of about 160) students supported by the program attended the sessions, including the talks as well as visits to the
Institute intramural laboratories. Noted speakers included Dr. Zachary Hall, Vice Chancellor for Research, University of California,
San Francisco; and Dr. Michael Zigmond, Professor of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh. The students, who responded
to a survey, overwhelmingly endorsed the meeting and expressed appreciation for a unique opportunity early in their scientific
careers to visit the NIH and interact with extramural and intramural scientists.